You could argue that in the two previous seasons, those were the top five quarterbacks in the league. Eli Manning may have penetrated the top 5 (but who do you leave out?) with his second Super Bowl title last season. Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco are starting to push the top 5 pile now.

But the early records of these five elite quarterbacks proves the cliche is true: It’s a team game.

There is nothing Roger Goodell can do now. His commissioner legacy is forever stained.

This replacement-official fiasco doesn’t trump all the good he has done as commissioner. But that much-ballyhooed, personal-conduct policy Goodell so famously enforced will now have negative company in the history books.

DOVE VALLEY — When John Fox comes to his Monday press briefing and announces he has no update to the injury report, that means none of the players injured in the previous day’s game suffered season-ending injuries.

Fox added a little clarity to McGahee’s injury, saying it involved cartilage. Fox said Porter “re-tweaked” a bruised knee on a hard fall while covering Kevin Walter on Walter’s 52-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

The best news, though, is Fox said Irving had “cleared up very well” following the concussion he sustained on a scary hit in the second quarter. Irving was blocked into Houston’s punt returner and appeared to be knocked unconscious as he fell to the grass. He lay motionless for a few seconds before he began moving his arms and legs. Trainers removed Irving’s facemask before Irving eventually was able to walk off the field and into the locker room.

“They’ll go through all the proper tests and much like everybody else on that list I gave you, he’ll be day-to-day,” Fox said.

This screen grab shows Eric Decker sliding at the end of a 13-yard gain in the third quarter of Denver’s 31-25 loss to Houston.

DOVE VALLEY — Broncos coach John Fox seems just as confused as you and I were as to why receiver Eric Decker slid at the end of a catch-and-run play late in the third quarter on Sunday.

Decker caught a quick pass from Peyton Manning and ran across the middle of the field for a 13-yard gain. Decker slid right at the 50-yard line, three yards past the first-down marker, though it did not appear there was a Houston defender near enough to immediately make a tackle.

“He wasn’t doing it intentionally to hurt him. That’s not Joe Mays, that’s not what we teach,” Fox said. “It’s an accidental play in football. We see it around the league every week.”

Here’s what Mays told The Denver Post about the hit on Sunday evening:

“I’m just trying to hurry up and get to him before he gets the ball off,” Mays said. “But he got the ball off, and after the release, he kind of ducked his head. As soon as he ducked his head, it was a bang-bang play. I knew as soon as it happened, I’m going to get fined for that.”

There was a report Sunday by ESPN that Broncos coach John Fox and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio would be fined by the league for the way they hollered and screamed at the replacement refs during their team’s 27-21 loss at Atlanta last Monday night.

The report was news to Fox and Del Rio for they had not been notified by the league prior to the report.

Today comes an ESPN report that Fox will be fined $30,000 while Del Rio will be fined $25,000. Again, the specific dollar amounts are news to the Broncos coaches — they have yet to be notified of any punishment by the league.

Fox and Del Rio, by the way, demonstrated far calmer sideline decorum in the game Sunday against Houston.

Nicki Jhabvala is a Broncos beat writer for The Denver Post. She was previously the digital news editor for sports. Before arriving in Denver, she spent five years at Sports Illustrated working primarily as its online NBA editor. She also spent two years as a home page editor at the New York Times.